Twas the week of Biz-Tech

Many people have been asking, “What is Biz-Tech?”
The simple answer is that it is an entrepreneurship competition.
But, the real answer is that the Biz-Tech Challenge is an initiative to partner STEM and Business students to become innovators for the next tech generation. This competition is open to students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs.)
“The Biz-Tech Challenge is the perfect opportunity for HBCU students to showcase their talent and capacity for innovation. . . It provides them with an avenue to success in a field in which they have been historically underrepresented, and that is, at its core, what the Biz-Tech Challenge is all about,” said Executive Director of NexusLA, Genevieve Silverman.
Many may be familiar with the annual Bayou Classic Career and College Expo which typically takes place on the Friday following Thanksgiving in New Orleans, LA.
This year’s competition will be held on November 24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 2 p.m.
Things will be a bit different as the Biz-Tech team gears up to fill the timeslot formerly filled by the expo, but contestants have made it clear that the changes have not deterred them.
“I’m very proud of my team for getting this far and I am excited going into the final pitch. We were blessed with this wonderful opportunity. I know that we are more than prepared and I hope we come back as winners,” said sophomore Animal Science major, Mikayla Glasper.
Prizes this year range from job opportunities, internships and mentorships, to a payout of $10,000.
Contestants from across the HBCU community have done diligent work and waited to take the challenge by storm and present the ideas they have been conjuring for months now.
Along with their faculty advisors, a total of 24 teams have registered to participate in the competition, totaling 98 students.
5 teams have been selected to present their business plans to the public on Friday afternoon.
The Baton Rouge campus of Southern University has two teams advancing to the final round of the Biz-Tech Challenge. The contestants all seem eager to beat Grambling this year, as GSU took home the the grand prize for the 2016 Biz-Tech challenge.
“Going into the final pitch I am excited and ready to win. I look most forward to interviewing with the companies that will be there to possibly get an internship for the summer,” said Junior Agricultural Economics major, Desrael Dumas.
Since 2016, BizTech has had a 35 percent increase in participation, as team and corporation involvement is consistently on the rise.
President and CEO of NOCCI, Dottie Belletto, predicts a 60 percent increase in participation going into the 2018 BizTech Challenge.